The Marauder Chronicles
by Death-Muncher
Summary: Sirius has some problems at home, Peter has self confidence problems, Remus has fullmoon trouble and James has... well James has Lily. focuses on Sirius
1. Default Chapter

The Marauder Chronicles

Chapter 1

"I'm sure you realize that because of the severity of your actions I will have to inform your parents." said Dumbledore, his eyes lacking their usual sparkle.

Sirius glared at one of Dumbledore's quills, if looks had any effect on the well being of objects, that poor quill would have shrivelled into ashes. Raising his eyes to the solemn old man, he said through gritted teeth "I didn't think that Sniv- er… Snape would _eat _the soup, for Merlin's sake it turned blue when the spoon touched it! It wasn't part of the plan for him to get distracted and eat the damn stuff!"

Dumbledore broke in at this point "Mr. Snape seems to think that you had Miss Evans purposely get into a fight with Miss Black to distract him."

Sirius barked a laugh "This is Lily we're talking about! She'd prefer to be locked in a room with a starving manticore, than do anything for me! The plan was, for him to have a moment to realize that his soup had mysteriously turned blue and then the fireworks were going to go off in his face and cover him with blue soup. Nothing bad was supposed to happen… well except for Sni-… Snape being extremely embarrassed."

"I'm sure that you only had 'good' intentions at heart, but because of your prank Mr. Snape is now in the hospital wing, in severe pain and with fire-works going off every time he tries to relieve himself… you find this amusing Mr. Black? I can assure you that this is no laughing matter."

Sirius tried to keep a strait face, but found this impossible, due to images of Snivellus with fire-works coming out his ass. "Sorry professor, I completely agree, awful situation for Snape, send him my er… condolences."

"As I was saying" said Dumbledore, raising an eyebrow "your parents will be contacted, you are dismissed and don't forget your detention tonight with Professor Darkwoods."

At the mention of his parents, Sirius's smile was wiped from his face, to be replaced with a scowl. "Yes sir." Was all he said before turning and stalking from Dumbledore's office.

"Can you believe that Moony? A week of detentions with Darkwood and he's going to contact my parents, all because Snivellus was too stupid to look at his fucking soup!" ranted Sirius, while pacing back and forth across the boys dormitory.

"Well, Padfoot you can't exactly blame Dumbledore. The plan did back-fire rather badly, with really crappy results." replied Remus from his bed, "Stop pacing Padfoot, your going to put a groove in the floor."

Suddenly the door slammed open, making them both jump, as James and Peter came running in.

"I'm so sorry Padfoot old pal; I had no idea that they'd blame you for it!" James panted, dropping down on his bed, "I'd of told them except you started with that whole cover story. Thanks for covering my back."

"Chill Prongs chill, don't get your antlers in a twist. It ain't all that bad, just a detention." Said Sirius throwing himself down beside James.

"That's not what you we saying be-" Remus was silenced with a glare from Sirius that James missed.

Peter sat down in-between Remus's bed and Jame's, "so who's your detention with?" he asked.

"Ugg... Darkwood" said Sirius going into fake convulsions.

"That's horrible!" said Peter "I bet, he'll make you clean out the Potion's bathroom… without magic!"

"Good Godric I hope not! If given a choice between that and death, I'd soooooooo choose death" mused Sirius "But I don't suppose that death will be one of the options."

"Well as interesting as your death will be Padfoot, I want to hear about how Wormtail's encounter with Melinda Kernston." said Remus looking expectantly at Peter.

James inexplicably fell off the bed post where he had been perched, odd gagging noises were heard before he could get to his feet. When he did his face was red from contained laughter. He gasped something about 'eggs' and 'up his nose'.

Peter was now extremely red and muttered "it's not important… nothing interesting…"

"NOT INTERESTING? You have got to be kidding Wormtail, I'm sure that Melinda has never seen someone shove eggs that far up their nose before! That must have been a world record!" interjected James.

Both Remus and Sirius were looking extremely perplexed, in fact they looked as if they'd just seen Snape in tutu, mildly revolted.

"Your nose Wormy? How did you manage that?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"I was embarrassed! You know I'm not good at asking girls out! My just elbow slipped off the table o.k.!" Peter said in a rush, with tears in his eyes.

"Its o.k. Pete, we understand…" started Remus.

"No it's not o.k. and you don't understand it atoll! You three have your own fan groups and admirers, yes even you Remus but then there's me, I can't do anything right…" he trailed off, looking miserable.

Sirius was on his feet in a nanosecond, putting his hand on Peter's shoulder he began his patented 'cheer up Wormtail speech' "Wormtail, you know that's a lie! You can keep your own with James in Charms almost any day!" he shot an apologetic look to James " and you can usually keep your own in Herbology and your not at the bottom of the class in Astronomy, in fact your better than me in it! You're a wiz at chess, I don't think I've ever beat you and I know that James hasn't. You can stay on a broom for more than 10 minutes, unlike Remus over here. And just cuz' some stupid chick doesn't know how cool you really can be, doesn't mean you immediately go to the bottom of the pile. And girls do like you; take that pigtailed Hufflepuff that's had her eyes on you for the past three weeks! You're definitely not un-wanted. I know what'll cheer you up! Let's go play a prank on…" he paused realizing that Snivellus was in the hospital wing and other wise un-attainable. "My dear cousin Narcissa." He concluded with a broad grin at Peter.

Peter looked up at him with complete trust in his eyes. "o.k." he said, wiping away the tears with his sleeve.

Sirius with his arm over Peter's shoulder moved towards the door, glancing over his shoulder, he asked "you guys coming? We have a snake to torture!"

James dove right in and Remus soon followed "so what's the plan?" he asked, running to catch-up.

"I don't know yet. There's always the age old change-her-hair-colour-but-she-doesn't-know-anything-about-it. What do you think Wormtail?"

"Maybe we could… put red and gold make-up on her, that won't come off for a long time… and we transfigure that odd looking hair piece that she always wears into a muggle trucker cap… with _Go Gryffindor _on it!" replied Peter slowly and uncertainly.

There was a long silence following this idea and he raised his head worriedly "But if you don't like it…." The other Marauders just stared at him.

"Don't like it?" Remus said in disbelief, "that is one of the most amazing pranks that I have ever heard of or had the honor to perform."

"That's a fucking amazing idea!" said Sirius simply, staring open mouthed at Peter.

"Who are you and what have you done with Peter?" asked James mock seriously "I swear if you're a Slytherin I'm going to blow you all the way to your dungeon common rooms!"

The boys erupted in laughter as Peter put on his best dangerous look and said "I'd like to see you try you sorry excuse for a pure-blood!"

Sirius shot a glance at the Slytherin table, "They're on to us" he whispered.

James, Remus and Peter all turned around to get a look and for their troubles were presented with almost the female population of Slytherins glaring at the Gryffindor table, in particular at them, all with varying degrees of loathing.

Looking at Sirius James growled in a voice laced with sarcasm "ya think?"

"Uh… guys… Their coming over here." Said Remus tugging on Jame's sleeve.

"You think your funny don't you, you damn mud-blood loving bastards?" snarled Rabastan Lestrange.

"We'll see whose laughing next Quidditch game" hissed Lucius Malfoy.

"It'll still be us, same as always," replied Sirius with false cheerfulness.

"You won't be laughing come Christmas. Your father isn't to happy about what happened with Severus… and we all know how he gets when angry. I wonder what it's like when he's _furious_?" Replied Lucius smoothly.

All traces of laughter and humor were gone from Sirius, his face became un-characteristically serious.

"We Gryffindors are resilient creatures, I'm sure he'll be fine," said James boldly defending his friend.

"We'll see about that" Lucius said silkily already turning away.

James turned to Sirius with a troubled look on his usually carefree and mischievous countenance. "What was that all that about Padfoot old friend?"

"Nothing important, damn Slytherins" replied Sirius with forced casualness.

"Sirius" said James sternly.

"Just drop it!" snarled Sirius suddenly standing up.

Remus and Peter were staring at Sirius in shock.

"Sirius, he was only trying to help! We're your friends, you can talk to us." said Remus firmly.

"And what if I don't want to talk? Huh? What then?" he said in a cold voice usually reserved for Slytherins, as he stalked out of the Dining Hall.

"What the hell brought that on?" asked Peter in confusion.

"I'll tell you what brought that on, Malfoy did and we're going to get to the bottom of this," declared Remus with determination, "as soon as I finish this pie."

Glancing to the side he was almost knocked over by the force of both Peter and James's glares. "Of course this lovely pie could wait till later…"

"Come on" Peter said as he pulled on Remus's arm.

"I'm coming, I'm coming" said Remus with a sigh, glancing back at the un-finished pie lovingly until it was out of sight.

"Hurry up, you two we need to find Sirius before lunch is over" James needled them urgently. "Where's the map?"

"Sirius has it!" supplied Peter.

"O.k. than, if I were Sirius where would I go when I've just exploded?" asked Remus hypothetically.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" they said in unison.

They headed to the second floor, they were almost at the mirror when who should show up?

"Bellatrix, Malfoy, Lestrange and Knott!" said James in surprise,

"Surprised to see us so soon after our last meeting Potter?" laughed Bellatrix coldly, "we were just on our way to find you."

"As pleasant as our meetings inevitably are… we have things to do and places to visit." Replied James hurriedly.

"I hope you can spare just a few seconds to chat, we have things to 'discuss'." Malfoy interjected "important things."

"I couldn't agree more. What the hell did you mean back there in the Dining Hall?" snarled Remus pointing his wand at Lucius's heart.

Immediately both parties pulled their wands out, but Malfoy continued on unperturbed by the hostility of the Gryffindors before him. "Don't tell me you don't know? He's never told you about his father? I guess he's more of a Black than I thought!"

"Tell me what you mean or I'll break every bone in your body!" said James in a dangerously low voice.

A malicious grin slid onto Malfoy's face "I'd like to see you try" was all he said and then the hall erupted in chaos.

"_Blastus"_ James bellowed as he dove to the side to avoid a nasty hex from Knott. He heard the sickening crunch of one of the Slytherins being thrown against the wall. He heard Remus engage Lestrange in fierce duel and Peter… well all he heard from Peter after _Expelarmius _was a frightened squeak. Surprisingly it was followed by an astonished shout from Malfoy.

Ducking out from behind a suit of armour, James was shell shocked to see Peter charge at Malfoy and knock him over. "GO PETER" he shouted as Peter attacked Malfoy in a flurry of punches.

Sending a hex towards Knott, James jumped out from his hiding place only to be hit with an elastic curse from Bellatrix, unable to stay upright he collapsed onto the ground.

"Lil' Potter has had enough? Does lil' Potter wanna a play a game?" sang Bellatrix in a sickenly sweet baby voice.

As she said this, she was using her wand to stretch out both of James's arms farther and farther away from his body, at twenty feet they couldn't stretch any more.

Suddenly an angry shout echoed down the corridor, Peter stopped beating up Malfoy, Remus removed his Full Body Bind from Lestrange and Bellatrix released the magical grip on James's elasticized hands so that they snapped back to his body, smacking hard in the face.

McGonagall was furious! Despite only having worked at Hogwarts for two years she'd soon made herself a reputation as a teacher _not _to cross. "Dueling in the halls? How dare you? I will be speaking to Professor Birkins about this, have no fear! Detention, all of you! 6: 30 tomorrow in the Dining Hall. Get to class NOW! You, Malfoy, go to the hospital wing. _Finite Incantium_" she said pointing her wand at James and his body returned to normal.

They scattered, each groups heading in opposite directions.

"What do we have now?" asked Peter.

"Muggle Studies" replied Remus, running around a corner.

"Shit! We're going to have to find Sirius later," gasped James just before they flew into the muggle studies classroom.

"I was wondering when to expect you fou- er… three. Better late than never, I suppose… Where is Mr. Black?" asked Professor Hurns.

"He's in the hospital wing, we got into a bit of a scrap with some Slytherins." lied Remus easily. With all the lying he had to do because of his lycanthropy, he had developed quite a talent for it.

"I see… well please take a seat so that I may continue with the lesson, turn to p. 128." She continued un-aware that she was being deceived. "As I was saying, Muggles have a strange fascination with being able to contact each other with increasingly small devices called cell-phones…"

The three Marauders tuned her out and began passing notes:

(_italics James, _**bold Remus **and underlined Peter)

_We need to find some way of getting out of class._

**Your right we can't just leave Sirius down in that bar being miserable, who knows what he'll do!**

But how are we going to get out?

**Peter's right, we need a plan! James? Why are you grinning at me lik- No! I am not playing off my lyncanthro—**

_But Remus! This is for Sirius, we can't just leave him down there! You said so yourself!_

**FINE! But next time don't rip the parchment away from me like that.**

Stop bickering! I'll stay here and take notes for you… Good luck!

"Yes Mr. Lupin?" Professor Hurns had finally noticed Remus's hand in the air.

"I... I don't feel to good… I think I'm—going to—hurl!" he said with a gulp, flashing her, the brave, puppy dog face.

"You may go to the hospital wing, can you get there on your own? Apparently not…" she noted as he stumbled against a desk, "Miss Evans, please help Lupin to the wing."

James slapped his hand to his forehead, whispering "damn it" under his breath. Remus glanced at him worriedly and then back at Lily who was looking mildly disgusted.

Leaving the class room, while leaning a bit on Lily, Remus's mind worked frantically. _What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Oh shit, what am I going to do?_

"Uh… hey Eva… er Lily, I'm feeling a bit better, you don't have to take me all the way to Pomfrey." Remus said, while trying to look brave and sincere.

Lily glanced at him suspiciously.

"You don't look all that happy to be escorting me and I'm sure you'd much prefer to be back in Muggle Studies with your friends and all…" he trailed off, desperately praying that she'd take the bait.

"Uh… o.k., if your sure that you can make it the rest of the way on your own." She said uncertainly.

"Ya, I'm sure I'll be fine!" Remus said relieved. Perhaps it showed in his voice, because she looked at him funny.

"Well o.k., I hope you feel better" she said as she turned around and headed back the way they'd come.

Remus waited for a few seconds till she rounded the corner than started running down the hall, towards the mirror on the second floor.

He froze as a voice rang out "you don't seem too sick anymore!" Spinning quickly, he saw Lily standing about 20 feet away with her hands on her hips.

"Damn" he whispered "uh… it's not what it—"

"Save it Lupin, I don't want to here a pack of lies. I thought you were the descent one of your little group of hell raisers, but apparently, I was wrong." She growled her voice low with anger as she came closer.

"No, you don't understand! I'm not trying to skip class, well I am…. But for a good reason!" Remus said, desperately trying to think up a reason that she'd like, he eventually settled on the truth.

Lily looked skeptical "good reason? Well let's hear it." She said, raising a thin eye-brow.

"uh… well you see, my group and I got in a mild scuffle with some Slytherins at lunch and Malfoy said something to Sirius that got him real pissed off and now he's gone down to Hogsmeade and me, James and Peter tried to follow, but the Slytherins stopped us and when we tried to get out of class, Mrs. Hurns chose you instead and ya…" he blurted out "I just need to find Sirius and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid and bring him back to the castle…"

Lily seemed to be thinking this through, trying to find a chink in it. "Well, despite the fact that I don't approve of your little group, I'm going to let you get away with it this once. I'll even send a note to James that you're heading down to Hogsmeade. But I want immunity from any of your pranks in return!" she finished triumphantly.

"Thank you so much! I swear on behalf of the Marauders that you have immunity for this entire year, I can't promise about next year though…"

"That's good enough" Lily laughed "now go find your friend."

"Thank you again!" Remus yelled over his shoulder as he continued his race towards the Mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Remus ran down the street towards The Leaky Cauldron, he didn't notice the strange looks that he got from passer-by's, he was concentrated on finding Sirius.

Bursting into The Leaky Cauldron, he immediately spotted Sirius, sitting in the corner with a bottle of Firewhiskey. He was staring at the bottle of Firewhiskey in his hand as if it had the answers to all of his problems in its depths, he didn't appear to have noticed Remus yet, he didn't even look up when Remus sat down beside him.

"Hey Sirius" Remus said carefully "everything o.k.?"

Sirius took a long swig before answering "O.k. I guess."

Remus decided that now was not a time for subtlety "Stop shitting with me and tell me what's wrong!"

Sirius raised his head and Remus was shocked to see that he'd been crying at some point.

"Is it true?" Sirius asked, looking at Remus with a sullen bleary eyed glare, that only a drunk can manage.

"Is what true Padfoot old friend?" Remus asked disconcerted.

"I hate them Remus, I hate them so much!" Sirius said, putting his face in his hands.

"Uh… who do you hate?"

"All of them, I hate them all! I want to kill them," Sirius took a long gulp from the Firewhiskey, "I want to taste their fear, I want to make them pay!"

Remus was now alarmed and extremely worried "Who do you want to… hurt?"

Sirius started laughing and several people turned to stare at the two boys. "Ashes to ashes!" he shouted.

"Sirius calm down, o.k. we're going now. Come on get up, yes you can bring the Firewhiskey." Remus said desperately trying to get Sirius to stand up. "Come on get up, we need to go, ya that's right, no Sirius the doors over here, good good."

Sirius and Remus stumbled out into the bright sunlight and headed for Honeydukes. Sirius was weaving across the street, as if the world were spinning beneath him, all the time talking about random things that he saw or thought of, every know and then he'd mention those people who had made his life a living hell.

"Come on Sirius, we're almost there." Remus coaxed as they entered Honeydukes.

Fortunately for them, the owner had stepped out, so they made a dash or in Sirius's case a stumble towards the stairs leading to the cellar. Sirius sat down heavily on a crate marked _Fizzbee Wizzbees_ and described how much he hated these people and how he didn't deserve it, that he'd tried. Remus was having trouble getting the trap door to open but it finally gave, with a resounding crash. Remus grabbed Sirius's arm and pulled him into the passageway, pulling the door closed behind them.

Running along the passageway, Remus cursed everything under the sun, as he tried to haul Sirius after him. About half way there, Sirius's legs gave and he crashed to the floor with an anguished wail. He started to cry; in all 5 years of knowing Sirius, Remus had only seen him cry once and that was when he'd given away Remus's secret and almost lost all of his friends.

Sinking down beside Sirius, Remus put a comforting arm around him. Sirius clung to him like a frightened child and bawled into his shoulder, "I hate them Remus, I hate them and they hate me, because of Gryffindor, because of you, but above all because of me, because of who I am."

For the next twenty minutes after that Sirius didn't say anything, he just sobbed into Remus's shoulder as Remus tried awkwardly to comfort him.

"No one, no one understands," Sirius said to Remus, looking him in the eyes, tears still running down his face. "No one understands and no one cares."

"That's not true Sirius, that's not true at all. James, Peter and myself care about you like family—" Remus began, but that was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"Family! If you were anything like my family… Then you'd be in Slytherin and I'd want to kill you too!" and with that statement he cuddled up to Remus and put his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes. "I'm happy that you're not like my family."

Remus looked down at Sirius; his black hair contrasted sharply with his pale skin, he looked like a fallen angel, with his hair spread out behind him and over Remus's shoulder.

After a while Sirius's breathing deepened and slowed down, as he fell asleep. Sitting in the middle of a cramped tunnel alone with his drunken friend, Remus had no idea what to do. He was jolted out of his thoughts when Sirius nuzzled closer to him, slipping an arm around Remus's waist, Sirius turned over so that he was partly on top of Remus.

Now forced into this awkward position, with nothing better to do, Remus set to work, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.

_An hour and a half later_

Remus awoke with a start, glancing around trying to find what had woken him up, he saw James running towards him.

"Remus! Where have you been? I was worried sick! Oh good you found Sirius! How is he and **what are were you two doing**?" asked James all in one breath.

"It's a long story; now help me get him to the dorms. He's in no shape to get there on his own." Remus replied, getting up and working the kinks out of his legs.

The two of them, each slipped an arm around him and heaved him to his feet. Some how Sirius managed to keep a death grip on the bottle of Firewhiskey. He emitted a groan, but otherwise showed no signs of life.

"O.k. lets go! By the way where's Peter?" asked Remus.

"Oh, he got his finger stuck in a muggle spark plug and had to go to the hospital wing." Replied James off-handily, looking down with worry at his best-friend. "What's wrong with him? Did you find out?"

"I found out a bit, but I he didn't relinquish the answers easily. He went on and on in disturbing detail about how he wanted to kill some people who had made his life hell."

James was always an easy person to read, and Remus could tell that he knew something, but all James said was "wow… that's pretty serious. Who'd he say he wanted to kill?"

"I'm not sure… He never said exactly, but I think it might be his family." replied Remus.

"Crikey. I knew Sirius was having trouble with his parents n' all but I didn't know it was this bad." James gasped in shock.

Half way to the Gryffindor common room, Sirius came groaning back into this world. "Where the hell am I?" was all he said before clutching at his head.

"Your almost at our common room, we just need to go a little further. Can you do that? Just a little further." James said coaxingly, bending down to were Sirius was crouched.

"Yes" responded Sirius dully, as all the memories cam flooding back, "ya, I can make it."

"O.k. good, everything's going to be o.k." Remus said reassuringly. "as long as we don't run into any teachers along the way."

They made it to the portrait hole, without any mishaps.

"_Snorkalbacks_" James puffed.

"Is he going to be o.k.? Poor dear." The fat lady said as she swung open.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, just give him a day or two." James replied with a forced grin.

"Come on Sirius, just little farther." Remus tried to encourage him.

He received a grunt in reply. As they passed through the portrait hole, the whole common room turned to stare.

"What happened to him?" asked one person.

"Is that Firewhiskey?" asked another.

"He's gonna be in for it, if a teacher finds out." pointed out a third.

"But the teachers aren't going to find out, now are they?" James glared threateningly around the room.

"Oh but a teacher is going to find out, probably the headmaster too!" said Kreg Rouling, the Prefect. "They don't like it too much when their students go and get themselves drunk, especially under-aged students. Add skipping classes into the bargain and that's a recipe for expulsion or at least suspension."

"Sod of Rouling and keep this to yourself. Or else we'll make you wish that your mother never opened her legs!" Remus said in a deadly tone.

Rouling slunk away to his girlfriend and the rest of the common room went back to what they were doing, but now they were discussing Sirius Black.

They finally got Sirius up the stairs and into the dorm, they set him gently on the edge of his bed and stood back, to look with pity on him.

"Sirius tell me what's wrong please! I'm your best friend, I want to help. No not any more Firewhiskey, give that to me." James lunged for the Firewhiskey that Sirius was lifting to his lips.

"No, gerroff. Fuck it just let me finish it off." He managed to get in a few long gulps before Remus snatched it away. "Awww, fuck Remus, its just a little Firewhiskey. Come on give it here and let me finish it off." He glared balefully at his two fellow Marauders.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Sirius Orion Black!" Sirius winced at the sound of his name "We are going to make you tell us what that whole episode with Malfoy was about if it's the last thing we do." James shouted.

"It's none of your business! Now give me the fucking Firewhiskey." Sirius growled back. "And please god don't shout, my heads banging like a gong."

Remus decided on a quieter approach, "Sirius do you know what you said when you were drunk?"

Sirius looked up with fear in his eyes. "What did I tell you?"

"That you wanted to kill people, to see them bleed, that you hated them and they hated you, you asked whether something was true, you said a lot of odd things and we want to know what they mean. We want to help you; we'll try and make it better." Remus told Sirius earnestly.

"Guys… I really don't want to talk about it." Sirius said looking down at his feet.

"Sirius, it's not good to bottle stuff up. Shit, I'm starting to sound like some sort of psychiatrist. Look what you're doing to me Padfoot!" James said half jokingly. "Don't you trust us?"

"James… its not that I don't trust you, it's just… I can't tell you, it… you wouldn't understand— your… your perfect. Both of you are perfect." Sirius was cut off by James's angry outburst.

James and Remus looked at each other anxiously, Remus raised one of his eyebrows "perfect? I'm sorry Padfoot but your going to have to explain in a little more detail."

Sirius's face went white "I don't want to…"

"Sirius by bottling in your emotions, you're going to keep feeling like this inside where they can fester and eventually you're going to crack and do something stupid. Just tell us." James said, grabbing Sirius's arm and forcing Sirius to look at him, "Tell us, we're not going to judge you."

"Maybe… another time… just not now." Sirius got up and headed for the door, but James jumped in front of him.

"It's been 5 years that I've known you and you've shown up at my house twice during the summer looking like you'd gotten on the bad side of Scandinavian Gore-Hide . You're going to let it out and your going to let it out now." James said as he pushed Sirius back down on to the bed.

When Sirius didn't say anything, Remus decided that he needed some prodding, "So when did these 'problems' start?"

Sirius gave a long and slightly melodramatic sigh "They started for the most part after I got into Gryffindor, my Mother and Father weren't too pleased and they have a way of making their feelings heard and understood." Sirius muttered, so quietly that Remus and James had to lean forward to make sure they didn't miss anything. "There was a bit before that, but only when I did something really bad. After Gryffindor it got pretty constant."

"What do they do to you?" James asked concerned.

Sirius steadfastly avoided their eyes "My mother prefers magic as a way of punishment, she would never demean herself to anything else. My father prefers a more physical approach."

"Oh my god…" Remus couldn't finish his sentence.

"Hanging out with you guys cost me a lot during holidays and the summer, but I'd have it no other way." He said with a little smile, "if I'd stayed away from you, I might have turned out like my parents or my brother."

"Sirius I am so sorry! If I'd known…" James trailed off.

"You couldn't have done anything. My parents are very influential. There's nothing you can do." said Sirius with a sigh. "I think I'm going to go for a walk. Do you guys have anything for hang-overs?"

"Nope, sorry! You'd have to go to Pomfrey and I don't think that's the best course of action." answered Remus.

"Here's the Map, just in case. See ya" he threw the Marauder's Map down on a bed. "Oh, and can you please not tell anyone about this!"

There was such a look of pleading in his eyes that the two Marauders agreed. After he left James and Remus sat in a stunned silence for a few minutes before discussing Sirius's problem.

Sirius made his way over to the lake; looking around to make sure no one was nearby he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one, then stood there for a few minutes quietly puffing on it. Sighing he started his walk around the lake. He watched as the giant squid propelled itself across the surface of the lake and then his thoughts wandered back to his first holiday with his parents after being sorted into Gryffindor.

(Flashback)

"HOW DARE YOU? You abnormal, mud-blood loving, aberrant, little _Gryffindor._" screamed Mrs. Black.

"Mother no, I didn't want to get in Gryffindor, I wanted Slytherin! I swear it, I don't want to be with the Mudbloods!" he tried to explain to her.

"Stop your insufferable whining, you lying little piece of shit. I should have drowned you at birth." She snarled as she pulled out her wand "you wait till your father gets home, compared to what he'll give you, this is nothing. _Iverit!"_

Pain exploded in his arm and moved slowly to his chest and the rest of his body. He screamed and screamed.

(End Flashback)

It only got worse from there as far as he could recall. When he'd gotten back to Hogwarts after the holiday he'd been so bruised and battered that sitting down had been horrible. But then he'd met James, Remus and Peter. He wondered what he would of done if it weren't for them.

Shaking his head, Sirius threw the stub of his cigarette into the lake and lit another one. Sitting down beneath a tree he leaned back and focused all of his thoughts on finishing the pack of cigarettes. He didn't let any other thought that had anything to do with his parents, his brother, the Slytherins or Remus and James finding out about _them,_ enter his mind. He let his mind drift to old pranks and the fun he'd had with the Marauders.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Where is that boy?" pondered Professor Darkwood pacing back and forth across his office. He hated that little group of Gryffindors with a passion only equaled by his desire to get the Quidditch cup in his office. He was the head of Slytherin and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And his stomach was leaping in glee at how much trouble he was going to get that young Black in.

He knew the Blacks personally and knew how disappointed they must be in their eldest son. At least their younger son Regulus showed signs of promise, hanging with the right crowd and being accepted into Slytherin. He could only hope that Sirius would open his eyes and realize his mistakes before it became too late to change his ways and turn to his pureblood heritage.

He figured that he'd waited long enough and now was a good time to contact Minerva and have a long discussion about getting her precious Gryffindor suspended. Or maybe he should get in touch with Dumbledore… Decisions, decisions was his final thought as he threw a handful of shimmering green powder into the fire and saying the headmasters name clearly stepped into the grate and headed to the headmaster's office.

Peter returned from the hospital wing a few minutes before Professor McGonagall stormed into the boy's dormitories. Remus and James didn't have time to explain much before she made her entrance and exploded.

"WHERE IS HE? HE'S NOT GOING TO GET OUT OF DETENTION, JUST BY NOT SHOWING UP FOR IT!" she roared "Now where is he?"

_Damn it _thought James. "Uh… We're not actually to sure… but I don't think he was trying to get out of detention. He's had a lot on his mind." James said carefully

"You expect me to believe that you, his best-friends don't know where he his. By the way all three of you have a detention for tomorrow night with me, for lying to Professor Hurns about his whereabouts this afternoon. He was not in the hospital wing as you claimed, he wasn't even in that little scuffle with the Slytherins. I want you to tell me where he was then and where he is now!" her lips thinned with each word and by the time she finished they were barely visible.

"We don't know where he was or is, honest! He came back a few hours later and then he went out again. But he has his own problems and I'm pretty sure that he forgot all about his detention." Remus said with his best innocent face.

Apparently it didn't work quite as well as he'd hoped, because she raised one eye-brow and looked at him disbelievingly. "That's not quite the story that Mr. Rouling told me. He said that Sirius came back _drunk_ and that you two were following along having a grand old time."

James made a mental note to kill Kreg Rouling later. "Er… it's actually kind of a funny story…" Macgonall's lips thinned even more, that wasn't a good sign "well maybe funny isn't quite the right word, you see Sirius is having some minor family problems right now…"

"Save it Potter, I just want to know where he is. Do you have something of his that I could borrow?" she asked tight lipped.

"Uh… ya, what kind of thing do you need?" asked Remus as he moved over to Sirius's trunk.

"Any old thing as long as he uses or wears it a lot." She replied dismissively.

Remus opened the trunk and pulled out the first thing his hand touched and was in the midst of handing it to Professor McGonagall when he realized that it was a porn magazine.

She caught a glimpse of the cover before he could throw it back into Sirius's trunk. She raised one thin eye brow, as he hurriedly shoved a sock into her hand.

She spun around and stalked out the door.

A few minutes later she was in Dumbledore's office, handing him the sock.

"What's the tracking charms radius?" she asked him.

"Approximately 3 miles in all directions, not too useful if you're searching for someone who's running away, but I doubt that Mr. Black has done that." Dumbledore said with his usual cheerfulness.

Placing the dirty sock in the middle of his desk, Dumbledore pointed his wand at it and muttered a complicated string of gibberish and several scarlet sparks jumped from the end of his wand and a glow encompassed the sock, a few seconds later the glow vanished.

"Well? Did it work?" asked McGonagall impatiently.

"Yes, I believe so. If you will follow me, I'll lead you to him." He said over his shoulder as he started down the moving staircase.

There was little conversation between the two as they made their way through the castle and out the huge doors.

"Ah, there he is, across the lake. Well come along now Minerva, don't want to be in this rain any longer than we can help." Dumbledore said cheerfully as he started the long trek around the lake.

McGonagall just grumbled in response.

As they drew closer Sirius looked up and jumped in surprise, he quickly put out the cigarette as discreetly as possible and leaped to his feet.

"Mr. Black, would you please accompany us back to the castle? We have many things to discuss." Dumbledore said as he put his hand on Sirius's shoulder and steered him back towards Hogwarts.

McGonagall just glared at him and Sirius felt a sudden surge of panic.

(_Italics thoughts)_

"_Did Remus and James tell them? Oh god no! Maybe I can make a break for it. But where would I go? Aww, hell consequences be damned, if they tell my parents that they know about the punishments, my parents are going to kill me. Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. What to do what to do what to do… If I can make it to the forest, once I'm far enough in I can transform into Padfoot and they'll never find me!"_

McGonagall was still shooting him glares, disapproval written clearly across her face. As soon as she turned her head away from Sirius, he made a bolt for it.

Dumbledore felt Sirius tense under his fingers and knew a split second before it happened what Sirius was going to do. Dumbledore may have looked frail and weak, but he actually possessed a surprising amount of strength. He tightened is grip on Sirius's shoulder and stopped his attempt at escape. Sirius struggled briefly, but soon gave up.

"_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…" _Sirius's thoughts continued on much the same line all the way to Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore sat Sirius down in a chair and then moved behind his desk, to sit down as well. McGonagall sat down next to Sirius.

"So Sirius, Mr. Potter tells me that you're having some family problems." Dumbledore began.

But was immediately cut off by Sirius, "I don't know what he told you, but it's not as bad as it might sound. My family and I are just fine, James doesn't really know what he's talking about…" Sirius's babble was cut off by McGonagall clearing her throat.

"Mr. Potter only told that you were having minor family problems, which might be a reason for you missing your detention with Professor Darkwood." She said, thin lipped as usual.

"Oh… uh… sorry." Sirius said looking at his boots, but embarrassment and relief were evident in his voice. _God I'm stupid, of course Remus and James would never rat on me! What was I thinking? Wait a minute did she say detention? Oh shit, I forgot detention. Damn it!_

"A student came to me earlier and said that you came into the Gryffindor common room, under the influence of alcohol. Is this true?" asked Dumbledore.

Sirius didn't say anything.

"Might I remind you that it is against the rules to consume any amount of alcohol while on school grounds and it's also against the rules to be on Hogwarts grounds while under the influence of alcohol. As well as your under-age, but seeing as you didn't cause any damage your punishment will not be as harsh as it might have been. You are further more banned from any Hogsmeade visits. I will also be sending _another_ owl to your parents, alerting them to this and if the problem persists we will have a meeting between your parents, you, Professor McGonagall and myself on ways to correct the problem."

"Yes sir. But must you contact my parents? Couldn't I just serve a week or two of detention instead?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Is there a reason that you don't want me to contact your parents?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"I…uh… no not really…" Sirius muttered. "May I leave now?"

"No not yet, I'd like to talk with you in private for a few minutes." Dumbledore replied.

McGonagall got the message and said her good byes and left the room.

"Sirius _are_ you having problems at home?" asked Dumbledore kindly.

Sirius went rigid in his chair, "No, why would you think that?" he asked carefully avoiding Dumbledore's gaze.

"Just a few things I've noticed. O.k. that is all, you may return to your common room now." He said in the voice that said I-know-your-lying-to-me. "Oh and Sirius, please try to refrain from drinking Firewhiskey again."

"Yes sir, sorry for bothering you." Sirius said, turning quickly and was almost out the door when Dumbledore spoke again.

"And if you are having any problems, do not hesitate to come see me."

"Yes sir" Sirius replied and then ran down the stairs and into the corridor.

_Shit, shit, shit! He knows, I don't know how, but he knows! Oh shit! My parents are going to kill me! I am so staying at Hogwarts for Christmas!_

He entered the dormitories and was immediately pounced upon by James, Peter and Remus.

"What happened?"

"What are they going to do to you?"

"Can I come to your funeral?"

"McGonagall was sooo out for your blood!"

"Is that cigarettes I smell?" Remus asked sniffing "I didn't know you smoked."

"Uh… I don't know what you're talking about!" Sirius said feigning innocence.

"Ya right… _accio cigarettes!" _Remus said jabbing his wand at Sirius.

Sirius's pack of cigarettes flew out of his pocket and into Remus's hand. The Marauders looked at him with various degrees of surprise.

"Er… how did those get there?" Sirius tried to sound shocked and innocent, but failed miserably.

"You smoke! And you never told me!" yelled James reproachfully. "You're in deep family shit and we're trying to help and you're out _smoking? _I think you need to get your priorities in order here."

"James! It's not bad, it-" Sirius tried to interject.

"NOT BAD? NOT BAD? It's a horrible habit, it can kill you!" James yelled "You might as well go to Azkaban!"

"I doubt that smoking is as bad as Azkaban. James it doesn't matter, you don't give a shit when we smoke gillyweed and I do that almost every week. You've seen me get so drunk I can't even recognize you! And you suddenly care that I smoke normal fags? That's just twisted!" Sirius retorted.

"No but smoking is _bad_ for you! It's dangerous!" James tried to explain.

"Oh and running around with a werewolf every full moon isn't?" Sirius said sarcastically.

"That's different!" snarled James and Remus together. They looked at each other surprised, Remus continued "That is very different—" he was cut off by Sirius.

"Really how? Because with one, I can die within a few seconds being torn apart by some bloody thirsty beast and the other I can die a nice slow death prolonged over years? It's still dying and frankly I don't care about that particular problem" Sirius snarled back and turned around and headed for the door.

"You can't run from all your problems Sirius. You're going to have to face them someday! And when that day comes we'll be standing beside you." James called after him as he stormed down the stairs.

"This isn't going quite as planned Prongs" Remus said turning to James.

"No, not at all" agreed James.

"I thought that we were supposed to be nice and comforting and such when Sirius came back!" pointed out Peter.

"Ya ya I know I fucked it up, but he was smoking!" James tried to defend himself.

"You've seen him smoke gillyweed before, why is it such a big deal now?" asked Peter.

"I don't know… cuz it was real fags I suppose. Smoking gillyweed is _different._ It's something that teenagers do… smoking is actually bad for you! It's worse than gillyweed." James tried to explain himself desperately and getting increasingly louder and more hysterical.

"James? Calm down, why are you getting so worked up? You're scaring Peter." Remus said slightly alarmed.

"Sorry, but I've bungled it bad and I'll bet all the gold in Gringotts that Sirius is going to go do something stupid and it'll be _my _fault. He's got a fucked up family and then I go and get pissed over some insignificant thing and …. God I'm stupid." James moaned holding his head in his hands.

"Look, the Map says that he's just in the common room, nothing to worry about!" Peter said bending over the Map.

"That's good. I'm going to go down to talk to him. See ya" James said walking out the door.

"Hey Sirius!" James said gently, sitting down beside Sirius on the couch.

"Hi James." He replied glumly staring into the fire.

"Sorry about what happened upstairs…. I shouldn't have said that…" James muttered, following Sirius's gaze into the fire. "I don't know why I freaked…"

"Its fine Prongs old friend, I shouldn't have said some of the things that I said either." Sirius replied with a wane smile. "it's been a long day."

"You've got that right Padfoot" James said leaning back into the couch, putting his arm around Sirius's shoulder, he relaxed in the heat of the Gryffindor tower.

The next morning when students poured out of their dormitories, they found the two boys lying in each others arms, heads on each others shoulders, their faces the pictures of contentment.

Rumors circulated the tower about how they were perhaps lovers, that there were two fairy boys in the Gryffindor tower. But of course no one mentioned it to Sirius and James's face.

They awoke when Sirius fell off the couch with a loud thud and a groan.

"You all right there Sirius?" James drawled sleepily.

"Ung…" was all he got in reply.

James leaned over the side of the couch and was grabbed and pulled off too, he fell right on top of Sirius.

"Urg… my plan backfired! I'm stuck under this great fat brute and there's no way of escape." Moaned Sirius, in a sleepily playful manner.

"You bastard, I was comfortable! Just cuz you fell off the couch doesn't mean you have to bring your misfortune down upon me." James groaned and sat up, so that he was straddling Sirius.

Sirius tried to escape but was trapped "your not going anywhere till I've exacted my revenge" James said with an evil grin.

"No James please, just let me go" Sirius cried desperately writhing beneath James.

Any passer-by's who hadn't believed the rumors about Sirius and James being poofs were suddenly filled with uncertainty.

"James, get off you great fat pillock! We're going to miss breakfast!" Sirius yelled.

James was off him like a shot "BREAKFAST! Come on Padfoot, we need to get ready!" James cried pulling Sirius to his feet.

Sirius and James stumbled into their dormitories nearly colliding into Remus and Peter who were trying to find Peter's owl.

"Hi guys, we'll be back, just need to shower, see ya!" James said all in one breath.

Sirius and James disappeared into the shower room only to reappear several minutes later, wet and shiny.

"O.k. we have four minutes to go! Let's get a move on" Sirius yelled pulling on a shirt, whilst Remus and Peter watched.

"And we're done! Let's go, I'm hungry!" yelled James already half way down the stairs.

"We're right behind you!" called Peter.

They marched into the Dining Hall as if the events of the day before hadn't happened at all. Sitting down at their usual place at the Gryffindor table, all four of them heaped food on their plates and started wolfing it down.

Everything was fine until owl post.

_James's pov:_

I was reaching for the milk when the owls soared into the Dining Hall, the buzz of conversation in the hall barely paused to acknowledge the owls as they flew to their various recipients.

I got a letter from my mother about how we would be going to Italy for Christmas to visit my great-grandfather Laurence. I tossed it nonchalantly into my bag and started to ask Sirius whether he preferred gifts from Zonkos or from Honeydukes, when I noticed the red envelope in his hand that was beginning to smoke at the corners. The look on Sirius's face was… pained. That's the only suitable word for it.

Sighing he ripped it open and then a stony look settled on his face and he looked strait ahead through out the entire rant of the howler.

SIRIUS BLACK HOW DARE YOU CONTINUE TO ASSOCIATE WITH THOSE HALF-BREEDS AND MUDBLOODS? AS IF GETTING INTO GRYFFINDOR WASN'T BAD ENOUGH, YOU GO ABOUT _BEFRIENDING _SCUM LIKE THE POTTERS!

YOUR FATHER AND I ARE EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN YOUR CONTINUED RIDICULLING OF THE SON OF OUR GOOD FRIENDS THE SNAPES! WE HAVE ALSO RECEIVED WORD THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HUMILIATING YOUR COUSINS!

WE THOUGHT YOU'D LEARNT YOUR LESSON LAST SUMMER BUT APPARENTLY WE HAVN'T MADE OURSELVES PERFECTLY CLEAR! YOU ARE NEVER TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THOSE POTTERS EVER AGAIN AND YOU ARE TO STOP PLAYING YOUR LITTLE TRICKS ON THE SLYTHERINS!

AND WHATS THIS ABOUT YOU LEAVING SCHOOL PROPERTY AND GETTING DRUNK? WE THOUGHT YOU COULD SINK NO LOWER; YOU HAVE DIRTIED THE HONOURABLE NAME OF BLACK YET AGAIN! IF YOU DO NOT CHANGE YOUR WAYS SOON THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!

AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! YOUR FATHER DOESN'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AROUND HERE TILL THE SUMMER.

AND SO HELP ME GOD, IF I RECEIVE ONE MORE OWL FROM DUMBLEDORE, I'M GOING TO BLAST YOU OFF THE FAMILY TREE.

The howler screamed its message to the great hall several more times and then turned into a pile of ash on Sirius's sausages.

I glanced carefully at Sirius, he never like it when people went all sympathetic about his problems and all, so I had to be careful.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of his face and it was devoid of emotion. That was a bad thing; usually you could tell what mood Sirius was in by his face, except for when he was something really bad had happened or was in pain.

Everyone in the Dining Hall was trying to catch a glimpse of Sirius, most were subtle about it except for a couple of stupid Hufflepuffs who were standing on their table talking in loud whispers about the stupid bloke who had gotten a howler.

I made a mental note to kill the two boys later, damn third years.

Remus was talking quietly to Sirius "stay calm Paddy, don't give _them _anything else to gossip about, just stay calm."

By _them _he of course meant every other person in the school.

I put my arm around Sirius and tried to be cheerful "You can come to my place if you want; you know that you're always welcome there."

Sirius turned to face me and in a flat voice said "Can't, they'll pull me out of Hogwarts or something if I disobey them. And yes James they'll find out.

"Well that's a problem…" I replied. I really hate how I don't think things through.

"Uh… we've got charms now!" Peter piped up. Thank god for Peter, he's always good at diverting attention.

"Your right, well we'd better get going! Don't want to be late." Remus said with forced cheerfulness.

Several Gryffindors who had gone back to eating looked up again and gawked at Remus. He had forgotten that we, the famous Marauders, _never_ got to class on time! Oh well, I guess there's a first time for everything!

"Well come on then!" I said with a care free grin "let's go!"

And that's how the Marauders shocked everyone by being the first people in the charms classroom. During this brief period of solitude we did our best to comfort Sirius and cheer him up. It wasn't working very well.

We'd just gotten him to crack a small grin when the Slytherins walked in. Shit, I'd completely forgotten that we had Charms with _that_ scum. Just our luck!

I sighed when Lucius Malfoy sauntered over, but all he did was set his bag down on the desk two over from us and turn his back from us. He's planning something… I know it! God how I hate Slytherins.

Professor Flitwick walked in right then and started taking attendance; he fell off of his pile of books in shock when he saw that we were in class on time.

Sirius allowed himself to chuckle at that and soon we the Marauders were roaring in laughter, watching as Flitwick tried to clamber back on his pile of books with the help of Lily Evans. Now that's a nice looking girl! Great hair, a smile that makes me feel warm and fuzzy, although she rarely smiles at me… those eyes, oh god those eyes are so beautiful and she has a really great ass…mmmm…Lily Evans….

_Remus's pov:_

Sirius appeared to be returning to normal or as normal as he ever got. Flitwick finally got back up on his pile of books and began to direct the lesson.

I grinned in excitement, I LOVE charms class! Its one of my best subjects, of course I'm good in almost all subjects but Charms was defiantly in the top three.

Ooh! Today we're learning the stunning charm and the revival charm, I'm good at that! I learnt that one ages ago! Sirius taught it to me, oh ya speaking of Sirius better make sure he hasn't done anything stupid. Nope he's just staring out of the window, not doing anything dangerous. Wait a minute is he fingering his wand and it just so happens to be pointing at Malfoy… Oh no!

A second later a small jet of red and orange light shot out of the end of the black ebony wand and wrapped itself around one of Malfoy's chair legs. I glanced back at Sirius just as a resounding crack echoed around the class room and Malfoy went tumbling to the floor.

Sirius put on his best innocent look, it fooled Flitwick but no one else fell for it, they all knew the truth, including Malfoy. Sirius never knew when to leave well enough alone. I groaned.

Professor Flitwick went on as if nothing had happened after restoring the chair. "I'll now divide you into pairs" the class groaned "Miss Evans with Miss Perkins, Mr. Rookwood with Mr. Weasley…" I faded his voice out, only tuning back in whenever a familiar name caught my attention "Mr. Potter with Mr. Zabini…" back out… "Mr. Lupin with Mr. Knott…" I grabbed my bags and made my way over to Knott, he wasn't a _too _bad… Compared to Malfoy and Snape he was down right nice! "Mr. Pettigrew you can go with Mr. Dolohv…"

Sooo bored, uh oh… Knott was looking at me with an evil glint in his eye, never a good thing. Must think quickly… why must they _always_ pair students of different houses together? Why? What-to-do-what-to-do-what-to-do? "Stupefy!" I muttered. Knott slumped forward onto his desk. Excellent!

"Excuse me Mr. Lupin, but if you were listening to the instructions earlier you would know that you are to practice the charm on those toads in front of you first and then move onto your partners." Flitwick said in an annoyed tone.

"uh… oops!" I said hopefully, his annoyed expression didn't waver for one minute "_eneverate!" _(a/n: I _think_ that's the right spell… if not…oh well!)

Knott blinked, shook his head and then glared at me. I turned away, but I could feel his glare on the back of my head.

"As I was saying, Mr. Malfoy you're partnered with Mr. Black here, I believe you two are cousins? You should get along just _fine!"_ Professor Flitwick said with a small grin as he turned his attention to partnering the last few students.

"Actually we're cousins four times removed. A Malfoy and a Black haven't married in quite a while." Malfoy said in a voice fairly dripping with distain.

Now Flitwick isn't as oblivious as he looks, apparently Sirius's "innocent" look didn't fool him after all and he's getting his revenge now by assigning Sirius a partner whom he _hates!_ Of course his little plan will probably blow up in his face and he'll have a corpse to haul out of the class room or something, but its revenge for now…

Sirius leaned back in his chair and put his feet on his desk, almost squishing his toad. "I'm not coming to you, _cousin._" He said using his aristocrat voice.

Malfoy moved to sit down in the seat that James had recently vacated, pausing he cast a spell detecting charm on the chair before sitting down. "I'm surprised Black, after sabotaging my previous chair I would have expected something nasty on this one!"

"So sorry to disappoint!" Sirius replied shortly, still using his aristocrat voice.

I turned my attention back to stunning my toad, a simple task; all you had to do was concentrate. After successfully reviving it, I returned my attention to Sirius and Malfoy.

Malfoy's toad wasn't moving, I assumed it was stunned. There was just enough noise in the classroom to prevent me to hear what he was saying but I could see Malfoy's mouth moving. Sirius was doing his best to ignore him. Sparks shot out the end of his wand as he muttered _stupefy._ Over and over again he tried to stun his toad each time he failed. I saw him snarl "shut up!" at Malfoy and try again. This time something did happen although not what was supposed to happen. There was a flash of green light and the toad gave an ominous shiver and without warning exploding, covering Sirius in little chunks of frog. The whole class had gone silent as they all turned around to stare at Sirius and the bits of dead frog aghast.

I heard Malfoy laugh and say "Come now cousin, its in your blood. Stop fighting the inevitable; we're not as bad as you think. Join us, your always welcome!" he added something in a lower undertone that I missed but it was obvious that Sirius heard.

I knew by the look on Sirius's face that Malfoy had gone too far. He spun around, sending frog blood and guts flying. He made a sharp slashing movement with his wand shouted something that was lost in the noise of students scraping back there chairs so as to get away from the two duellists. Malfoy staggered backwards clutching at a long bloody slash down his chest.

"SIRIUS, NO!" James yelled jumping up and grabbing hold of his friends arm, Sirius shoved him away, causing him to slip on some frog parts that had landed on the ground and fall.

Sirius was thrown backwards by Malfoy's spell; he went flying past my head to crash into the stone wall. There was a sickening crack; by the looks of it he'd broken an arm. He struggled to his feet his left arm dangling but he was still clutching his wand

"We are nothing a like you and I" he snarled at Malfoy.

"STOP RIGHT NOW!" Flitwick yelled.

It is surprising how loud that little man can yell, you wouldn't think it possible from such a small being.

Malfoy and Sirius were only feet apart; both their wands were pointed at each others hearts, their heavy breathing was the only sound in the room.

"DROP YOUR WANDS, NOW!" Flitwick yelled, stepping forward.

Neither of them moved. I caught James eye and without any words we agreed. Raising our wands simultaneously, we cried as one "_Stupefy!"_

Both Sirius and Malfoy slumped to the ground. The entire class breathed a sigh of relief.

"You may go for an early break" Flitwick said with a sigh "write a three foot long essay on the uses of stunning and revival charms, have it finished for next class."

Just like a teacher to give homework even during the middle of a crisis.

"Mr. Lupin would you please tell Professor McGonagall what has happened and to come to the hospital wing immediately, Mr. Potter could you find Professor Darkwood and deliver the same message, Mr. Pettigrew could you do them same but with Professor Dumbledore. Please hurry!" Flitwick said all in one breath.

"Yes sir!" I said in unison with James and Peter, as we ran out the door and in opposite directions.

_End of Remus's pov_

Flitwick transfigured two chairs into stretchers and then magiked the two boys onto them. He carefully guided them through the twisting corridors of Hogwarts to the infirmary and to the safe care of Pomfrey.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Sirius's pov:_

My wand was pointed strait at Malfoy's slimy little heart, it would be so easy. Just finish him off right now, there were numerous curses I could use. Having dark wizards for parents did have its advantages.

Flitwick's bellows were just a dim buzz in the back ground, my arm was hurting like hell and all I wanted to do was lie down and try and soften the pain but I had a mission.

I was about to shout the curse that would blast Malfoy through the window behind him when I heard two very familiar voices shout _stupefy! _I had a second to curse Remus and James with every swear word I knew, before the world went black.

Everything was blurry, I could just make out several vague shapes surrounding me. Their voices faded in and out.

"Blasted… frog… dark magic… Malfoy…Black…what…thinking…stupid…" one voice said.

The world came sharply and unexpectedly into focus and I saw Dumbledore looking disappointed and something that bordered on anger, an annoyed Pomfrey, a furious McGonagall and stunned and irritated Flitwick standing over me.

"What in the world possessed you Black? Attacking a fellow class mate, your own cousin no less, with dark magic! I would never have expected it from a Gryffindor!" McGonagall accused in a quite fury.

Dumbledore's eyes lacked their usual twinkle. His eyes hadn't twinkled in a _very _long time, or at least not at me.

"Why did you attack Lucius Malfoy?" he asked gravely.

I tried to think up an excuse, anything that would make sense to them, but not give them the truth. What had Lucius told them? He couldn't tell them the truth any more than I could, what would he tell them? Fuck him, look what his stupid, maniacal, pure-blood ideas had gotten me into… Pure blood! That's it, I'll use my pure-bloodiness to get out of it, and I might even score some points with my parents. Hell, they'll probably be proud of me; I used dark magic, dueled with a fellow pure-blood and pissed off Dumbledore!

I struggled into a sitting position on the hospital bed so that they couldn't loom over me quite as much. I lifted my chin and settled my face into an aloof, cold, aristocrat, I'm-better-then-you-you-ass-sucking-mudblood-loving-bastards type look.

"It was purely a family affair and doesn't concern you." I said in my patented shut-up-and-go-away-before-I-hex-you-into-the-next-century-haughty voice.

The professors exchanged glances and then looked back at me, McGonagall raised an eyebrow.

_God how I hate that eyebrow thing that she does, there's nothing I hate more about he—_

McGonagall's lips thinned into a barely visible line.

_And I'm proven wrong once more, it's the lip thinning that I hate the most about her! Insufferable woman._

"Mr. Black, I'm afraid it _does_ concern us, seeing as you saw fit to attack him in the middle of a class. But if you're going to be like this, we'll talk about that subject later. Would you please tell me why you murdered your frog?" Dumbledore asked.

Shit, that man was sneaky bastard! The frog incident isn't a family affair, so I _should_ be able to tell him, except that it leads to Lucius and some how he realizes this. Damn him!

"Uh…I just er… lost control of my magic…" I said trying to maintain my tone of assurance "you know… just a little thing…doesn't really matter…"

"Little? You killed a frog I think that matters a great deal; I think its time that you and I have a nice long chat. Minerva, Phillip if you would excuse us?" Dumbledore said glancing at each of them. Madame Pomfrey had already bustled over to a neighboring bed, which I can only assume Lucius was in.

McGonagall and Flitwick moved off and Dumbledore cast a silencing charm on the area so that we could talk in private.

"So…Sirius, we meet again!" Dumbledore said in a friendly tone. "I seem to be seeing a lot of you in the past few days."

"Yes sir" I replied cautiously.

"It seems all your troubles started with that prank on Mr. Snape, by the way, you'll be happy to hear that he was released a few hours ago and is now resting in the Slytherin common room." Dumbledore continued.

"Er… yes, I'm simply ecstatic!" I replied in a bored tone.

"But now to the point, I'm going to be blunt. What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know what you mean?" I lied smoothly.

"Don't give me that, within the past 48 or so hours you've gotten into trouble numerous times and the catalyst to all this is your prank on Mr. Snape so start there. I'm only trying to help you." He glared at me sternly.

"Adults say that all the time and the only thing that comes from it is more trouble." I blurted out before I could stop myself. I mentally kicked myself in the head, come on Sirius, be calm, cool and collected.

"What type of trouble could possibly come from telling me what's happened in the past 48 hours? According to you nothings happened so what does it matter?

"God damn it! Just leave me alone, why does it matter to you so much? What do you want from me?" I yelled. _Great job Sirius! That was so collected! Smart one. Now he knows for sure that something's wrong._

"Why do you think I want something from you?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"No reason…" I replied, staring stubbornly at the opposite wall.

"Sirius, this is getting us no where. I'm not trying to trick you or anything; I simply want to help you. If you tell me your problems I might be able to help you sort them out." Dumbledore persisted.

"No adult does anything without an ulterior motive…" I said suspiciously. _Oh great job, that was perfect. Open mouth, insert foot._

Dumbledore contemplated me sadly for a minute before saying "It saddens me that you have had experiences that would allow you to formulate that opinion. My 'ulterior motive' is to keep my students happy and safe."

I sighed tiredly; this man was just not going to give up until I told him the truth or at least part of it. "It's not important; you shouldn't be wasting your time with me. But fine, I'll humor you. I pranked Snape cuz that's what I do, some things were said by some Slytherins that got me pissed so I went off and got drunk and as I said dueling with Malfoy in charms was purely a family affair. I can't really explain it… You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." Dumbledore replied simply.

"Fine, Lucius wants me to… to join him and some friends in… various activities and meetings and I don't share some of their beliefs and they don't take kindly to that. Lucius continues to… er… _invite_ me to join them and ya…" I said, carefully choosing my words, to give him the least amount of information, while still answering his question.

"Does he try to threaten or blackmail you to participate in these meetings?" Dumbledore asked concernedly.

"Not exactly" I said slowly "more like forceful persuasion…"

"Would you like me to speak to him and perhaps convince him that he would be better of focusing his energies else where?" Dumbledore asked carefully.

"NO! Um… what I mean is no thanks; I wouldn't want to take up anymore of your time." I spoke quickly, trying to cover my slip.

"Its perfectly alright, I've got tons of free time and nothing to do with it." He replied blithely missing the point.

"No thank you, I'll deal with it myself, its not that important." I replied desperately. He just wasn't taking the hint.

"Well o.k. if that's what you want…" Dumbledore trailed off.

"Yes, thank you!" I replied quickly.

"Why do you feel that I want something from you in return for trying to help you?" Dumbledore asked, changing topics in the blink of an eye.

"Uh…" I replied brilliantly, taken by surprise by the change of topics. "I suppose cuz I've had a few uh… 'encounters' with some adults who wanted to 'help' me and then wanted certain things in return."

"I see… might I inquire to the circumstance involving this?" Sirius's face closed off immediately "I see not" Dumbledore continued "Sirius I hope that, in some way, I've helped you sort out your problems and if you ever want to talk about them I'm always there, the password to my office is…"

"_Blood Lollypops _I know." I said with a weak grin.

"I see, by the way your punishment for you actions are the following you are banned from the Quidditch team until further notice and 85 points from Gryffindor. And Sirius, I urge you to face your problems. You'd be surprised at how quickly ones issues are resolved after one confronts the people that one has issues with. Have a good day Mr. Black!" Dumbledore said removing the silencing charm and swept over to Malfoy's bed, where he erected another.

_Oh god… that did not go well. _

Madame Pomfrey bustled over and checked over my arm and cleaned up the frog guts, before telling me that I could would be fine and that I could return to class.

I slowly trudged towards the transfiguration class, I briefly considered skipping, but decided that I'd better not risk it.

_End of Sirius's pov_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Peter's pov:_

I was rooting through my bag looking for a new quill, I'd just broken my old one when Sirius walked into the class room, his shoulders were hunched slightly as if trying to ward of all of the stares that he was receiving.

"So kind of you to grace us with your presence, Mr. Black." McGonagall said coldly, looking up from where she was helping a cute Ravenclaw with her half-transfigured hedge-hog.

"Sorry for being late Professor, I was talking to Professor Dumbledore." Sirius mumbled, looking down at his feet.

I knew immediately that his time with Dumbledore hadn't fixed anything. Sirius's gaze roved around the room until he spotted James and headed towards him, when he realized that James was sitting with Remus. A slightly hurt expression flitted across his expression, before he turned and sat next to me. James handed him his bag, which we'd salvaged from the mess in the Charms classroom.

"Thanks" he muttered with a weak grin, before turning back to face the front of the room.

"We're turning hedge-hogs into chess sets today." I whispered and pushed my notes towards him "Having to make the separate chess pieces is really hard."

"Thanks" he whispered hoarsely and began to copy my notes onto a separate piece of parchment that he'd pulled from his bag.

I continued my attempts to turn my dratted hedgehog into a chess set.

"_Dominus hedech!"_ I said with a swirl and jab with my wand. All I accomplished was poking my hedgehog in the eye.

I turned around and saw Remus and James playing chess with Remus's board. James's hedgehog had the chequered pattern of a chess set and five or six of its spines were shaped like chess pieces.

"Remus, move your queen or James is going to take it with his rook." I said after analyzing their game for a few seconds.

"What? Oh, thanks Petie!" Remus said moving his queen to safety.

"Peeeeteeeer!" James groaned "Why'd you have to go and point that out to him?

"Cuz, I need help with my hedgehog." I replied simply.

"I see…" they said in unison, glancing behind me at the vile, troublesome, spiky beast on my desk.

"Of course I'll help you Wormy!" Remus replied, sliding out from behind his desk and coming over to mine. "How're you doing Padfoot?"

"Fine" Sirius replied, glancing at us and then returning to scribbling down the notes.

Returning his attention to me Remus asked "O.k. show me how you've been doing it."

"Like this, _Dominus hedech!_" I replied with the same swirl and jab, this time I avoided poking my hedgehog in the eye.

"Well you've got the wording correct; you might want to put a bit more emphasis on the _omin _part of _Dominus. _Don't put as much ferocity into the jab, your not trying to skewer the thing and your swirl needs to make a full circle before you do the jab." Remus explained, demonstrating the movements with his wand. "Now you try."

"_D**omin**us hedech!_" I repeated, making my wand complete the full circle and then trying to soften the jab.

My hedgehog flattened out and developed the chequered pattern, but instead of chess pieces it had spines sticking up in their places. The chess set also retained its legs. I watched with a raised eyebrow as its legs scrabbled furiously in the air.

"Close, very close!" Remus congratulated me enthusiastically "This time make the jab a tiny bit more pronounced."

I tried again "_D**omin**us hedech!"_ I preformed the necessary wand movements in perfect succession and the chess set with legs and spines morphed into a perfect wooden chess set.

"And there you go! You did wonderfully! Now if you'll excuse me I think James needs a bit of gentle prodding." Remus said with a wide grin, glancing back at the messy, black haired boy staring at Lily Evans.

"Thanks Moony!" I said turning back to my chess set.

_I think I'll turn some inanimate object into a chess board and give it to my mom for Christmas… She'll be so surprised that I made it myself!_

"So Sirius… How's your chess board coming along?" I asked.

Sirius gestured at his perfect chess board "This stuff is easy! I could do it in my sleep."

"I see… Do you know how people make the chess pieces move and stuff?" I asked curiously.

"Nope, the companies that manufacture chess sets don't let it become common knowledge. Otherwise their business would be ruined, honestly who's going to spend good money on a chess set when they can just transfigure something into a temporary one?" Sirius replied poking at one of his chess pieces.

"What do you mean temporary one?"

"Transfigured stuff isn't as good as the real thing. I mean honestly, the economy of the wizarding world would crumble if people just transfigured rocks and such into whatever they wanted. The 'strength' a wizard has in the transfiguration field affects how well he transfigures things right? Take that Ravenclaw, what's-his-name… Gordy something-er-ather… He sucks in transfig, so anything that he transfigures will only stay transfigured for a short period of time. All transfigured items after a certain period of time, depending on how 'strong' a wizard who transfigured it, will eventually revert back into its original state." Sirius explained gesturing wildly as he did so.

"Good job Mr. Black, 5 points to Gryffindor for knowing part of the theory behind transfiguration." Professor McGonagall said from behind Sirius.

Sirius spun around in surprise "uh… thank you professor."

"You're welcome Mr. Black" she replied over her shoulder, sweeping over to Lily Evans who was having trouble with her hedge-set, which had managed to sink its teeth into her robe and wasn't letting go…

"Oh… so that's what happened to all those beetles I transfigured into buttons… I thought that you guys had stolen them and put beetles in my bed as a prank." I asked said slowly.

"Nope… although that's a good idea, if we could sneak into the girls dorms, with tons of transfigured buttons and place them all over the room, then after a couple of hours all of the buttons will revert back into beetles and the girls will go crazy…" Sirius said with an evil grin.

"Won't they wonder why there are a bunch of buttons around their dorm?" I replied.

"Well I suppose… but buttons don't look evil or threatening so the girls will either just leave the buttons there or they'll pick them up and put them in a pile and then all of a sudden the buttons will turn back into beetles and the girls will freak!" Sirius finished triumphantly "I need to go tell James! This is a great idea, thanks Wormy!"

Sirius turned away from and began gesturing wildly to James and Remus as he explained his plan.

I sighed, well I guess that cancelled out my idea of sending my mom a home made chess set.

"Your homework for tonight is to read pages 257 to 264. We've almost finished this chapter so start studying for the chapter test." McGonagall said from the front of the class room. "You may go for lunch."

_End of Peter's pov_

"Do you know where Sirius is?" Peter asked, while lying on James bed admiring James's broom.

"He told me he was heading to the library to study for transfig or something…" Remus replied lazily flipping through a book on dark creatures.

"Sirius study? In the library? Sirius never studies, let alone go to the library, unless he's working on a prank." Peter replied confused. "And plus its past curfew, the library is closed now."

James walked in at that point humming the tune of the song he'd made up about Lily, it went something like "Lily, Lily, Lily-Lily, Lily Evans Lily Evans. Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily Evans, LilyEvans , Lily, Lily-Lily-Lily…"

He was sporting a black eye, so he must have asked her out again, but he looked happy enough. "Why don't you just check the map?" he said quickly before continuing to hum.

"_I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good"_ Remus said tapping the map, immediately it sprang to life "

James and Peter leaned in and the three Marauders sat in silence watching Sirius pause, turn and run as a dot labeled Argus Filch came out of a passageway up ahead of him. Luckily Filch didn't see him and Sirius got off scott free. But now he was approaching a group of dots labeled _Lucius Malfoy, Augustus Rookwood, Gerard Knott and Rabastan Lestrange._

"Uh oh!" muttered Peter "He doesn't know their there!"

The dot labeled Sirius rounded the corner and came to a dead stop, Malfoy and Lestrange headed in Sirius's direction and the other Slytherins followed.

"Fuck! Come on guys, we need to go to save Sirius!" James cried grabbing the cloak and his wand and was out the door with Remus and Peter hot on his tail.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Why hello Sirius, fancy meeting you here this late at night!" Malfoy bit out, narrowing his eyes as he came to a stop a few feet away from Sirius.

"Fuck off Lucius." Sirius replied simply.

"Is that the best you can come up with Black?" asked Lestrange coming to a halt to the left of Lucius.

"I see your arms healing up pretty fast. That was some pretty _dark_ magic you used back there." Lucius said calmly moving closer so that they were almost nose to nose, speaking in a lower "We were just heading over to one of the Greenhouses, would you like to join us? We have much to discuss…I have certain things that I could offer…And I don't just mean gillyweed and such, I know a way to get you into your family's happy books… for a small price of course…"

Sirius paused for a minute to contemplate Lucius's offer "what kind of _price?_" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing much, simply come to a few of our meetings and join in some of our activit-"

Lucius was cut of by Sirius snarling "Not a chance, now fuck off."

"We're not that easy to get rid of Sirius. You should know that by now." Replied Malfoy coldly.

"Why are you constantly pestering me to join you? Eh? Why are you so interested in me?" Sirius growled back.

"Because your one of us" replied Lucius simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Sirius and Lucius contemplated each other for several seconds in silence, when Remus, James and Peter came tearing around the corner, having hidden the cloak in a suit of armor once they got closer, their hands were free to wield their wands.

"Get away from him Malfoy! NOW! I swear if you've done _anything _to Sirius I'm going to kill you with my bare hands." James growled loudly "In fact I think its time for some Slytherin bashing, Sirius get out of the way."

Sirius looked at James and said one simple word brought James's world crashing down "No."

"What?" James replied blankly.

"No." Sirius replied hesitantly as if he hadn't completely thought out his next move. Sighing exhaustedly he continued "they haven't done anything James. We're just talking."

"Talking?" Remus repeated as if speech was a brand new concept. The other marauders were to dumb struck to say anything and just gaped at Sirius.

"Yes talking." Sirius seemed to slump slightly, as if a heavy burden had been placed on his shoulders. "I'm fine; you can go back to the common room. I'll follow in a few minutes."

"Sirius, what's going on?" James asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes and looking past Sirius at Malfoy.

"You heard him, Potter. Go back to your common room like a good little boy." Malfoy told James with a smirk.

"Shut up Lucius." Sirius snapped over his shoulder, and then turning back to James he pleaded "James… please."

James hesitated, torn between cursing Malfoy into next week and doing what his friend was telling him. "O.k. Sirius, if that's what you want. I'll meet you back in the common room." Turning around he strode away with Remus and Peter in tow.

Sirius watched his friends walk away, and then with a sigh he turned back to Lucius and his group. "And how exactly would you get my parents to back off?"

"By telling them that you've seen the light" Lucius proclaimed, making grand, sarcastic gestures with his arms "that you've seen the error of your ways and that you repent, that it was as if you were awakening from a dream and you realized that for the past five years you have been in the wrong, that-" Lucius caught sight of the dubious, mildly amused look on Sirius's face "what? You don't think it would work?"

"If this is your grand, master plan to get my parents to lighten up I'm very disappointed." Sirius said with an amused shake of his head.

"Oh ye of little faith." Lucius replied, making a 'piffle' motion with his hand. "I thought you knew me better than that."

Sirius's face darkened "I used to think I knew you, but I was proven wrong a couple of years ago." He responded slightly resentful.

Lucius's obvious good mood wilted a bit "lets not tread on that unsteady, emotional ground that seems to draw blood every time we touch upon it. My chest is only just healing and I'd like a few more days to recuperate before going at it with you again." He gave Sirius a tight grin, before gesturing down the hall, "come on, we can't stand in the middle of the corridor all night, Filch'll make his rounds some time soon and we don't want to be caught with our skivvies down." He beckoned Sirius to follow and then turned and followed Rookwood, Knott and Lestrange down the corridor.

Sirius to exhausted with the whole situation to be suspicious followed with only a moment's hesitation.

(tbc)

Author's Note: Hey y'all. Sorry about the lack of updates. I'm in the middle of rewriting this story. I was unhappy with the story line and I'd noticed that there really was no character building or back story. That Lucius and Sirius and pretty much everyone else were just following the classic 'Slytherins vs. Gryffindors rivalry' storyline and that pissed me off so I decided bollocks to this I'm going to fix this up and actually try for a decent story.


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